Missouri forces Kim Anderson to resign after three straight losing seasons

Anderson was 8-46 in SEC games in three years at Missouri

Missouri coach Kim Anderson has been forced to resign after three seasons at his alma mater, a source told CBS Sports on Sunday afternoon.

The school subsequently confirmed the news.

“This decision has been very difficult for me personally because of the tremendous respect I have for Kim,” Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk said. “I know how hard he and his staff have worked to turn the program around over the last three years. However, the lack of on-court success has resulted in a significant drop in interest surrounding our program, and we could not afford for that to continue another year.”

Anderson went 9-23 in his first season at Missouri, 10-21 in his second and is 7-23 in his third. He’s 8-46 in SEC games in three years. Missouri hired Anderson in April 2014 despite the fact that Ben Howland was interested in the job.

California coach Cuonzo Martin is expected to be among the top candidates to replace Anderson, a source told CBS Sports. Martin is from East St. Louis, Illinois, which is just across the river from St. Louis. Another possibility could be embattled Washington coach Lorenzo Romar -- mostly because he employs Michael Porter Sr. and has a commitment from Michael Porter Jr., arguably the top prospect in the Class of 2017. Porter Sr. was an assistant women’s coach at Missouri before he took a spot on Romar’s Washington staff. So the family is familiar with Columbia and the Missouri campus in general.